Tag Archives: buildings

I got caught peering down this long dark corridor from the sidewalk. He was sitting across the narrow street trying to sell some clothes. All he said was “come with me” or some such Spanish phrase. I followed him down the corridor until it opened up into a courtyard. He pointed to one of the doors at the top of the two sets of stairs and said “my house”. He wanted to show me where he lived, although we did not enter his dwelling. I also saw where his neighbors lived below and beside him, behind the maze of walls and doors that defined their own living space.

There are miles of streets in Havana with buildings that were once beautiful hotels, casinos, night clubs, and restaurants. Now they are crumbling, gutted out, moldy living spaces. Partitions or walls have been added to divide and then divide again huge rooms into tiny apartments.

This will be a series about where Cubans live. Not the well off. Not the hotel employees or the tourist taxi drivers. Not the waiters or waitresses in government restaurants. Not the ruling class.
This will be about the average poor Cuban in the capital city of the island nation.

I seek out the poor because generally I find them more open and receptive and more willing to spend time with a stranger. Probably because they have nothing else to do; no job, no black-market business to run, nowhere to collect discarded bottles and cans, or no good location to sell shots of strong Cuban coffee in the late night or
early morning.

I also seek out the poor because they exemplify the failures of a repressive, dictatorial, state-run economy better than the ruling class government employees. Those who are able to cheat the system live better lives in better homes and in better neighborhoods. Remember, this is socialism where everyone is equal and no one is supposed to own more than the next person.

The poor live in large marbled stair-cased buildings that were once hotels, nightclubs, restaurants or casinos.
Now the marble is broken and dirty. The roofs leak and any plumbing that still works is ancient. The once spacious rooms are cobbled into many compartments. Each filled with a lifetime of belongings, they are now called home.
With the predominant tall ceilings, rooms are often divided horizontally also.

In three buildings I was able to convince some of the occupants to let me photograph where they live.

I only had one woman decline.

This is “Where They Live”

A typical large building now divided up into living spaces.

Ondina is 92 years old and lives alone in a room on the third floor of her building.

Greeting me at the door. Note the seat where she sometimes sits.

One room with a bed, a table, and a refrigerator.

There is a bathroom, but no running water.

Note the drinking water stored in the large jugs. Neighbors help her by refilling the jugs and carrying them to the third floor.